


On the Other Side From You

by Draco_sollicitus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: DamereyDaily, F/M, Ghost Rey, Ghostly Glow, Ghosts, Halloween AU, Haunted House, Modern AU, Paranormal Romance, Pre-Relationship, Prompt8, Veteran Poe, amputee character, cursing, ghost au, potential for angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2020-12-28 00:58:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21128165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_sollicitus/pseuds/Draco_sollicitus
Summary: Poe Dameron moves into the run-down Victorian manor on the edge of Yavin, all the way out near Jakku. It's a beautiful house with plenty of character and plenty of room for his beloved dog to run around.Some weird things happen here and there, but hey, that's to be expected in an older house; and, he lives alone, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that his mind is just playing tricks on him.[a ghost story ft. an amnesiac ghost and the ex-pilot who's just moved into her old home]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Funny story, I had this outlined for 25 Days of Damerey last year; this is about a third of the story I had planned, as it was originally supposed to be a Christmas ghost love story.
> 
> anyway here's some distraction before the trailer drops!
> 
> **warnings**  
Poe left the service because of a bombing that took his lower leg and killed some of his friends (non graphic references)
> 
> Poe has issues with anxiety and depression

Poe wiped his palms on his jeans and set his hands on his hips as he surveyed the slightly dilapidated Victorian house with a feeling of pride. 

He’d come back from overseas a little adrift, thanks to the bombing and the loss of his right leg below the knee, but he’d been trying to keep an optimistic outlook on things- easier to do with regular trips to the therapist, the help of his father, and the finally correct combination of medication- and when his friend, Snap, had sent him the listing for the old house at the edge of Yavin (really almost on the county line of Jakku at that point), he hadn’t needed much time to think about it. 

With the sizeable estate left to him when his mother died, Poe had been able to buy the house in cash, with plenty left over. It was odd, sure, that it had been listed for so little money, but the real estate agent explained something about how the last owner had mysteriously gone missing, leaving the ownership of the property up in the air. But, the required seven years had passed, and they’d been declared dead in absentia, which meant the property needed to be sold, and quick.

Poe felt a little weird moving into a space of a person who might not even be dead, but he also needed to move out from his dad’s house and find a quiet place to work on his novel. The charming, if falling-apart house at the edge of town was perfect, with wide bay windows, a working fireplace, and creaky floorboards that smelled of spruce. There was a huge backyard for Beetlejuice to run around in, and the whole house was set up on a hill with a spectacular view of Yavin and all the green that surrounded it. 

The old Skywalker house, as the real estate agent had called it, was over two hundred years old, and there was quite a bit of work to do. But Poe had always enjoyed working with his hands, and his buddy Jess was an electrician who was willing to help him rewire the place, so he was confident that this would be an adventure that, while sometimes difficult, would be worthwhile.

With a contented sigh, he stomped up the stairs and into the house, through the front door with the beautiful, delicate stained glass window, and into the foyer under the grand chandelier, his trusty dog close behind him.

“Home sweet home, huh, Bee?”

Bee waggled his butt excitedly and ran past Poe, through the boxes of crap stacked up along the wall. Immediately, he started barking at something in the kitchen, and Poe laughed, weaving through the boxes, stopping to grab the one marked  _ dishes.  _

“You can’t already be hungry, buddy.”

Bee barked again, tail wagging, noise pointed at the corner of the dining room. 

“That’s where you want your bowl, huh?” Poe chuckled and opened the box, pulling out Bee’s dishes, which were perched right on top of a pile of newspaper. He’d figured the excitable Corgi would want his food before any unpacking got done. “You’re the boss, buddy.”

Poe filled the water bowl at the sink, which spluttered oddly before turning on, and then dug out the ziploc of dry food from the box. He walked to the corner Bee was  _ still  _ barking at and shivered unexpectedly as he passed in front of the window.

“Whoa.” He shivered again, but felt normal a second later. Poe squatted down and set the bowls carefully in the corner. “Eat up.”

Bee barked again.

“Yeah, yeah, bark-bark.” Poe straightened up and gestured at the bowl, but Bee had his back to Poe and was now barking at the foyer. “Weird-ass dog.”

He shrugged and started to haul the boxes to the appropriate rooms, wincing slightly when he landed poorly on his prosthetic on the second step, but pushing through. Poe made sure to take some Advil before going to sleep, and while he was pretty sure the wind was screaming at some point during the night, he was too groggy from the excitement of moving day to really care.

* * *

A week later, after he’d almost entirely unpacked with the help of his dad, Snap, Snap’s wife Kare, and Jess, Poe realized that he couldn’t find his toothbrush.

“Weird,” he muttered, checking the medicine cabinet in the master bathroom. He sighed and rubbed his stubble (that was too long to be called stubble now, definitely fully in beard territory, definitely a little unkempt, but he was  _ tired,  _ okay, he’d just moved and made a thousand changes to his life, and he thought he might be allowed to be a bit messy here and there), and then he checked the cabinets under the sink. It wasn’t there either.

Super weird, considering he’d brushed his teeth last night.

“Whatever.” He shook his head and swirled some Listerine instead, making a mental note to buy another toothbrush, and then walked downstairs, his knee twinging slightly when he took the first few stairs a little too quick.

“Guess I should call the PT again, huh?” Poe muttered to Bee, who huffed from where he was sitting on the couch. 

Poe stopped for a second and frowned at his dog; he was curled up on the couch the way he normally did when he sat next to someone, his chubby body stretched out on the cushion and paws resting on the empty air, where he’d normally rest them on a person’s thigh. 

“Good morning, by the way,” Poe called out as he walked to the kitchen and began to prepare the coffee. “Didn’t see you last night, figured you’d gone out on the town, met yourself a pretty lady Corgi. Or, hey, maybe a Mastiff. I’m not judging.”

Someone giggled.

Poe dropped the coffee mug he’d just pulled out of the cabinet, and barely caught it against his hand, knocking it to the counter and not the floor. “What the-”

He looked over his shoulder. Nothing. Nothing except Beetlejuice, who’d waddled over to the kitchen and was staring at Poe, or at least, the empty air near Poe, with an odd focus.

“Jesus, I need to get out more.” The corgi’s ears perked up. “Oh shit, you heard  _ out,  _ didn’t you.”

Bee raced to the front door, where his leash hung in a place of honor, and Poe chuckled, pushing his coffee mug to the back of the counter. “Yeah, I got you.”

He slipped Bee’s harness on carefully, walking out the front door and into the mess of fallen leaves that had piled up against the stoop in the middle of the night; they walked for half an hour, the crisp autumn air heavy with the oncoming rain, and Poe breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, reveling in the pleasant, chilly morning as Bee did his business. 

They were on very good terms with each other, Poe and Beetlejuice, until they got home and Poe found his toothbrush.

In Bee’s water bowl.

“Beetlejuice!” Poe cursed and fished the now slobbery toothbrush out of the bowl and wagged at his dog, scoldingly. “Ugh, gross, yikes, buddy.”

Bee sniffed it with a curious detachment before turning his nose up at it haughtily.

“Don’t give me that.” Poe waved the toothbrush like a wand at his pesky pup. “You’re the one who thieved it.”

If Beetlejuice could sneer, he would. Poe watched in mildly irritated amusement as Bee trotted off to his bed under the coffee table, his fluffy butt shaking with a certain aura of dignity as he settled in. “Jackass,” Poe muttered at his traitor of a dog, tossing the toothbrush in the garbage. “You jackass.”

A new toothbrush was definitely on the shopping list now.

At least he still had his-

Poe turned and frowned at the coffeemaker. There was absolutely nothing in the pot. “Huh.” Poe pulled it out and examined it. “Coulda sworn I started this thing.”

He opened the top, assuming he’d find it empty, assuming he’d imagined putting the liner in, imagined pouring out the beans, but: the dregs were there. 

“Uh.” Poe turned to Bee, a weird feeling in his stomach. “Buddy, are you a secret caffeine junkie?”

There was a long screeching noise, and Poe about jumped out of his skin; when he pivoted to stare in the direction of the noise, all he saw was a tree branch scraping against the window. He muttered to himself about needing to invite people over, and began to make a new pot of coffee.

* * *

Poe made the mistake of telling Kare and Jess that he felt like he should have some people over, and they quickly took over planning his housewarming party. A lot of the people invited were from the service, people in his squadron and their friends and family, and the rest were his friends from college. Poe was most excited to see his buddy Finn, who he hadn’t seen since they’d crashed those go-karts together over in Jakku four years ago.

The night of the party came quickly, and Poe took his prescribed Xanax when the panic set in; if he gave himself a pep talk in the mirror, well, that was his business. Bee wore a bow tie for the occasion, and Kes came over and helped cook, and all his friends were in a great mood with zero drama he could discern. By the time the party had been going on for an hour, Poe felt more in his element than he had since the accident, and he zipped around from group to group, talking and laughing and trying to contain how excited he was to be allowed this entire evening of a good mood.

He spun around the corner, holding a root beer loose in his hand, and froze at the sight of a beautiful young woman in the bay window. She was looking outside with the strangest expression of something not quite grief- closer to frustration- but devastating all the same.

“Hey.” Poe smiled at her when she startled and turned to face him. “I’m, uh, Poe.”

“I know.” She tilted her head at him, not smiling, and Poe winced, shuffling his feet for a second.

“Guess that’s pretty obvious, right?” He shrugged and gestured around the house. “My party and everything.”

“...Right.” She scowled for a second and then eyed the hallway; Poe thought that maybe she might be here with someone she was fighting with, and realized she was probably hoping to get some alone time.

“I can uh,” he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, “Give you some space.”

“No, no.” She sighed and blew some hair out of her face- she was pretty, something he’d recognized immediately, but her face was even lovelier when animated, her hair shiny and soft where it hunt around her face, and the sweater she wore fit her perfectly. “It’s your house after all.”

There was an odd inflection on  _ your,  _ almost begrudging, definitely reluctant, but Poe was slightly distracted by the smile she sent him, her first one, a half-one at that, but still dazzling. 

“Is that a beer?” she asked, suddenly excited as she pointed to the drink in his hand.

“Root beer.” Poe laughed and rubbed his neck. “There’s, uh, no alcohol here, I’m sorry.”

“I’d noticed.” And she smiled again, as though they were sharing an intimate, private joke. “Disappointing.”

Poe winced and felt his cheeks heat; she frowned at him. “Sorry about that- shit, I- did no one tell you?” The girl kept frowning. “I can’t drink, with my meds and stuff, haven’t drank since...since the bomb.”

“Bomb?” She echoed.

He laughed awkwardly and lifted the leg of his pants slightly, showing off the metal ankle there. Her eyes widened, and an odd look of regret flitted across her face. “Lost it to an IED.” 

“I’m … I’m sorry.” Poe had heard that a lot in the last year, but he thought somehow she sounded more genuine, as though there were something she actually had to apologize for.

“Don’t be.” Poe shrugged and fiddled with the top of his root beer. “I lost a lot worse than a leg that day.” Muran, for one. Tallie. A few cadets. Worst day of his life.

He blinked and cleared his throat, noticing that the girl looked stricken now. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured her, smiling crookedly. “It’s really, really fine.”

“I’m Rey,” she blurted out, cheeks pink, eyes bright. Poe grinned at her when she winced, clearly embarrassed at the awkward transition. 

“Nice to meet you, Rey.” Poe was about to offer her a root beer, when a familiar voice boomed out from behind him.

“Poe Dameron! Where did you go?”

“I’m in here, buddy!” Poe shouted back, grinning already at the sound of Finn Calrissian. He walked to the entrance of the front room and accepted the hug from Finn. “How you doin’?” 

Finn laughed and pulled away from the hug, but froze a second later. 

“What’s wrong?” Poe asked, pulling back as well. Finn was staring into space over Poe’s shoulder. 

“I thought I saw-” Finn shook his head and rubbed his neck, something sad in his eyes. “Never-never mind. I, uh, was hoping to get the grand tour of your new digs!”

“Yeah, man, of course, I can show you and-” Poe turned, sweeping an arm out to include Rey, but paused when he saw there was no one standing in the bay window. “And I guess just you,” he laughed, neck burning in embarrassment- had he scared Rey away? Made her uncomfortable? Excluded her by accident?’

He shook his head and wrapped an arm around Finn’s shoulder, trying to push the self doubt away long enough to give Finn the tour he deserved.

Later, after he was done with a few more rounds of socializing and starting to feel the burn of exhaustion, Poe purposefully looked for Rey; but, no one he talked to seemed to know who she was, so he figured it was a loss, and a very disappointing one at that. 

When he went to sleep that night, slightly wired from hosting, and with Finn asleep in the guest room, he couldn’t get the image of Rey out of his head, how beautiful she’d looked in the window, how sad, how lonely. He knew a thing or two about loneliness.

Thinking about loneliness before bed wasn’t recommended: he dreamt he heard a woman crying, and he wandered through the now empty rooms of his new house looking for her- he called out for her, but she only cried harder, and when he walked into the basement, the one that to his waking knowledge was boarded permanently shut, he saw walls and walls of tally marks, and somehow he knew that each one was another day the woman had cried with no one to hear her.

He woke with cheeks wet with tears and lay there for a long time, dizzy from a grief that didn’t feel fully his.

* * *

Poe was convinced his coffeemaker was broken. It only ever seemed to make half as much coffee as it had before, something that should have bothered him more than it did; he took a look inside the machine once but didn’t find anything amiss, so he chalked it up to him drinking a lot more than he realized.

At least Bee had stopped stealing his toothbrushes.

* * *

He had a bad, horrible, awful day in late October. 

Nightmares kept him tossing and turning the night before, and they’d chased him into the daylight. After walking Bee for only a quarter of the normal time, Poe found himself at the kitchen table, throat sore from his screams of the previous night, eyes swollen and gritty, a swiftly cooling cup of coffee clutched in his hands.

The light changed around him in the kitchen, and he paid it no mind, letting the day slip through his fingers like grains of sand. He tried to call his dad, but it went to voicemail- he remembered that Kes had gone on a cruise with Bodhi Rook and some other guys from the service, and immediately felt selfish for being upset that his dad wasn’t there for him the second he needed him, and that sent him down a shame spiral he really couldn’t afford.

He took his meds at noon, robotically, where they were kept in the pocket of his jacket, but didn’t look up from the wood of the table. Inexplicably, he started to cry, horrible, wracking sobs that shook his entire body. 

Bee nosed his left calf with a worried huff, and Poe covered his hand with his mouth and tried to stifle his sobs. 

“I’m-o-o--kay.” He choked out, scratching Bee while crying. “H-hey, I-I’m g-g-g-great, doin...doing fine.”

Bee whined and rubbed his hand with his cheek, and Poe tried to smile, but started crying even harder.

“I’m so alone, Bee,” he cried, overwhelmed by a wave of self-pity the likes of which he hadn’t felt since he’d woken up in that hospital bed, short a leg. “So f-fucking -”

“You aren’t alone.”

Poe screamed and jumped up from the table. Bee, who barked at birds that hopped up on the window panes, did not even blink.

Rey, the beautiful girl from the party, sat there in front of him, looking shy and nervous, which made sense because she was  _ breaking and entering.  _

“Holy- holy  _ fuck, _ ” Poe shouted. “Why the- what the fuck are you doing in my house?”

She didn’t seem perturbed and merely pulled up her feet and propped them on  _ his  _ kitchen table. “I could ask you the same question, Mr. Dameron.”

Bee trotted over to her, tail wagging, butt shaking, and jumped up into her lap, clearly well acquainted with the gorgeous cat burglar. Poe stared in shock, his heart slamming in his throat. 

“Look, Rey, was it? I really don’t know what you’re doing here, but I gotta ask you to leave.”

“Wish I could.” She smiled enigmatically and scratched Bee between his ears. “Wish I could.”

“Well, let me make this more clear. You need to go. Now. Or I’m calling the cops.”

“You could definitely do that.” Rey didn’t look up from the corgi who was now wiggling happy at her attentions. Poe glared at the Benedict Arnold in her arms. “Or, you could listen to me when I tell you it isn’t worth your bloody time.”

“Ugh.” Poe didn’t want to pull her out of her seat, but he did push her feet off the table, at least, because he  _ ate  _ there. Or at least, he tried to push her feet.

His hands moved right through her slender calves. 

“What the fuck.” Poe blinked, thought briefly that he was still in a nightmare, and then looked up at Rey, who had the gall to smirk at him.

“Like I said, not worth your time to send the police after me.” She sighed and tilted her head back on the chair. 

“Are you some kind of magician?” Poe rubbed his eyes, but Rey only laughed at him. 

He frowned- the laugh was oddly familiar, almost like the sound he heard at odd times during the day when he was talking to Bee or to himself. 

“Yes, I’m Harry Fucking Potter.” She spread her arms out demonstratively and shook her head, snorting as she went back to petting Bee. “No, numpty. I’m dead.”

“You’re dead,” Poe repeated, sinking into the chair, the ground having thoroughly dropped out behind him. “You’re...actually dead. Like really dead.”

“Super dead.” Rey rolled her eyes. “And don’t worry, I’m not at all sensitive about it.”

She was wearing the same sweater she had on the night of the party, a pretty, emerald green sweater that fit her perfectly; she was still as beautiful as she had been when they met, but as she stroked Bee’s ears, a cloud passed over the sun outside, and Rey faded slightly with the light, coming back into focus as the cloud moved on.

“Holy….” Poe licked his lip, at a loss for words. “How -”

“I don’t know.” Rey smiled sadly. “I woke up like this … I don’t even know when. All I know is I used to live here, my name is Rey, and I really like your fat dog.”

“He’s not fat,” Poe muttered defensively. “He’s curvy.”  _ Thicc boy  _ was what Jess called him, but he had a feeling that was only okay when Jess said it.

“Curvy then,” Rey beamed at him, and Poe couldn’t help but smile back, even if it were a little hesitant.

“You don’t even know your last name?”

“Nope.” Rey’s smile faded, and Poe regretted his question. “I...like I said, I only know my first name, and the fact that I used to live here. I can’t...I can’t remember my parents. Or how I died. Any of it. I opened my eyes and,” she waved a hand in front of her head, “blank slate.”

“Huh.” Poe tapped his fingers on the table and nodded. “That’s … that’s …”

“Fucking weird,” Rey finished for him, and Poe snorted in agreement. “Why were you so sad earlier?” Rey asked, her voice soft suddenly. 

“I-” Poe cut himself off, awkward and unsure.

“I wasn’t going to show myself to you like that,” Rey continued quietly. “I didn’t want to scare you. But you sounded so lonely. As lonely as I feel, every day. And I thought, he shouldn’t think he’s alone right now. So-” She waved her hands with a slightly ironic enthusiasm. “Here I am.”

“Thanks?” Poe laughed and ducked his head, his mind reeling. “That’s … that’s really sweet, actually.”

“It’s rare, so don’t get used to it.”

“I’m sure.” Poe eyed the way Bee was soaking up Rey’s attention. “And, I … I guess I have hard days sometimes, since I came back from overseas.”

“Where you lost your leg,” Rey said, blunt, but refreshingly so.

“Where I lost my leg,” Poe confirmed. “I have some issues I’m working on, and some days are a lot worse than others, so I guess you caught me on a bad day.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Poe stared at the girl across the table from him, the beautiful, mysterious girl at the party, who was actually the beautiful, mysterious ghost who came with his house; her hazel eyes were wide and clear, her expression thoughtful, and her lap full of his beloved dog. He hadn’t talked about this with anyone but his father and his therapist, but somehow, in that moment, he knew Rey the Ghost was someone he could, and should, talk to.

“Yeah.” He smiled at her and cleared his throat, about to start explaining, but Rey scrunched up her nose and lifted a small finger, cutting him off.

“Do you...do you think you could make some more coffee?” She pointed at the coffeemaker with a sheepish smile.

“You’ve been stealing my coffee?” Poe groaned and pushed the chair away from the table, stomping over to the beans. “I thought I was losing my fucking mind.”

“Nope.” Rey looked like the cat that caught the canary. “I was stealing it.”

“Ugh.” Poe shook his head but poured out the beans anyway. 

“You make good coffee,” Rey said in a tone that was clearly meaning to be conciliatory. 

“Mhm.” Poe squinted at her suspiciously as he finished setting up the machine. “Wait a second. If I can’t touch you, how can you drink coffee?”

“Because,” Rey said solemnly, “there are _ some _ miracles in this world. Best not to question them.”

Poe threw his head back and laughed, and was happy to hear Rey join in. A few minutes later, the coffee was ready, and Poe tried not to examine how privately delighted he was when he had to take another mug out of the cabinet.

No. Best not question that either. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Rey grow closer despite their ... corporeal differences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello and welcome back!
> 
> Today's update is dedicated to the DamereyDaily prompt: "What's that? In the distance? Such a ghostly glow!" because ... how could I _not_ return to the Ghost!Rey AU.
> 
> warning: this is sad!

So maybe Poe wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

Since Rey had shown up in late October, though, there were things that simply couldn’t be explained by hallucinations alone. She definitely was drinking coffee - Poe always had two mugs to clean every morning (“my hands would go right through the sink, Poe, really, I can’t do dishes, or I’d totally offer!” was often said to an amused eye roll by Poe) - and she was definitely entertaining Beetlejuice, who had fallen in doggy love with her.

Rey also had this aura of light around her that Poe was convinced couldn’t come from his own mind. Sure, she was a bit of a prankster and was incredibly crabby before she had her ghostly cup of coffee, but Rey was _ good, _ and kind, and clever in a way Poe found himself growing more and more … not attracted to. Nope. He refused to go down _ that _road.

Also, he knew she had to be real because whenever she left a room, either by vanishing (something she couldn’t seem to control, and something she always came back from blinking and gasping and so horribly confused that Poe’s heart broke for her) or by walking away, there was a smell of jasmine that hung in the air that Poe didn’t think his brain could conjure up. He simply wasn’t creative enough. 

When Poe woke shaking and nauseated from nightmares, Rey would perch at the edge of his bed, her eyes luminous and form grey in the moonlight and ask him in a whisper if he wanted to talk about it. And there was something about Rey that made Poe _ want _ to talk about it, at least some times when he wasn’t too sick to his stomach. Those times where he couldn’t talk about it, Rey would ask him for stories about the outside world, and he’d happily oblige, talking until his voice grew hoarse and his eyelids heavy, and as he slipped off to sleep those nights, he swore he felt a light pressure on his shin, over the covers, and heard a whisper of _ thank you, Poe _that coaxed him deeper into sleep. 

And, there was the matter of her laugh, which warmed him from head to toe, even when it floated around corners when she was still unseen. 

….So, maybe it wasn’t just Beetlejuice who had a crush on Rey.

Regardless of his feelings for Rey, she was still an abominable trickster. 

Like the cold January morning where he woke up to discover that _ all _of his important things - his phone, his keys, and yes, even his toothbrush - were stuck in a jello mold.

“So you can’t do dishes, but you can touch jello?” Poe asked disbelievingly to the thin air, and sure enough, there was a giggle. “C’mon, Sunshine, we talked about this.”

And, like Sunshine, Rey was there even if he couldn’t see her; he heard a whisper of “Talked about what?” over his shoulder. “Oooh, I hope you like lime.”

“This would be so much more impressive if Jim hadn’t done it first,” Poe said, feigning dignity as he dug through the jello for his phone. “Oh thank God, you put it in a plastic bag.”

“Of course I did, I’m not a monster.” Another phantom giggle. “And who the hell is Jim?”

“Jim … Halpert?” Poe paused over the trash can, where he was sliding massive amounts of jello off the ziploc that held his phone. “From the Office?”

“You didn’t say you worked in an office!” Rey sounded indignant, and Poe tried to turn to where her voice was coming from on the off-chance he’d be able to see her and see if she was pulling his leg or not. “You’re always here, how do you work in an office?”

“I’m always here because I’m writing, and because-” Poe let out a sigh and shook his head. Rey knew all about his anxiety; she wasn’t trying to get his dander up. “Rey, sweetheart, did you really never watch The Office?”

“...No?”

“It ended last year, it was, like, the most popular sitcom in America for years. At least. One of the most popular.” Silence. “Don’t tell me, you’re not a TV fan.”

“I like TV.” Mulish, now.

“Okay, what did you like to watch?” Poe crossed his arms and waited for her to say something - he planned on finding whatever it was on Netflix so she could watch it to her heart’s content. It’d give him a reason to actually hook up the television.

“Lost was pretty good, at least, the first season.” Poe nodded in agreement. “And, um, Friends. Uh. Charmed, and Felicity. Oh, and Buffy.” 

“Buffy’s great,” Poe said, frowning. “So you like 90s stuff, huh?”

“Of course I do.” Rey huffed. “The eighties were a terrible decade. Maybe not for movies though. I did always love Beetlejuice.” At the sound of his name, the Corgi barked eagerly, sniffing around for Rey. 

“You were … aware of the eighties?” Poe frowned, piecing something together. “...You can’t be a day over 23.”

“I’m 22, thank you very much.” Rey sniffed, and Poe smiled despite the anxiety in his stomach. 

“And you were born in…”

“1983.”

Poe stiffened, his throat seizing painfully. 

“What is it?” She sounded closer now, and Poe shook his head, wondering how he was going to say this to the invisible patch of air he’d come to care a whole hell of a lot about.

“Just ...I was born in 1981.”

“So you’re older than me,” Rey teased. “You look it, too. No offense.”

“That’s just it, Sunshine.” Poe swallowed painfully and looked out the window to the bleak, barren garden out back. “I _ am _older than you. I’m 32.”

“But.” Rey paused, and he watched, tears stinging at his eyes, as she faded into view. She looked so lost, and so, so confused. “But you’re not ten years older than me. You were born two years before me -- you, you should be 25 -”

“Rey,” Poe said softly, “Rey, listen to me-”

“I’m - I’m 22, and you should be 25, and I - what day is it?” Rey put trembling hands to her temples, and she greyed in the weak daylight.

“It’s Tuesday, January 7.” Poe watched her face and something crossed it like a shadow.

“So, my 23rd birthday would be in … in about two months. You’re - you’re not _ even _two years older than me-”

“-Rey-”

“-so why are you saying you’re 32?”

“Because Rey, it’s January 7, _ 2014, _” Poe answered weakly, and Rey shook her head, lip trembling. “Rey, please, I’m not trying to hurt you-”

“It’s not,” Rey said stubbornly. “It’s- you’re trying to prank me back. Ha!” She laughed wildly, uncontrolled, and the lights flickered. “Ha,ha, oooh, you _ really _got me, Dameron, now pull the other one.”

Poe took his phone out of the bag with a sigh and opened to the calendar app. “Rey, look.” She didn’t look down, holding her chin up high. Defiant. “Rey, _ please. _”

She looked at long last and her face crumpled when she saw the date. “But - no, it’s - it’s 2005,” she whispered, and the kitchen light fizzled ominously. Beetlejuice stood up, hackles raised and howled softly. “Well, New Year’s happened,” and they’d celebrated it together, Poe knew, laughing at the When Harry Met Sally re-run on AMC, toasting invisibly to one another because Rey couldn’t pick up the crystal flute, “So .. it’s 2006.” Her voice rose. “It’s two-thousand-and-_ six _, Poe, why are you trying to make fun of me-”

“I’m not making fun of you. I’d never do that.” Poe went to the cabinet, limping on his prosthetic, and cracked it open. “Here. It’s my Purple Heart, Rey, I couldn’t … couldn’t fake that.” She looked at it, swaying and turning more and more transparent, and Poe’s heart ached for her. “I lost my leg at the end of 2012, Rey. Honorably discharged at the beginning of the next year. I … I couldn’t fake this, and I would never prank you trying to hurt you. I swear.”

“But that means.” Poe set the Purple Heart back in its place and strode forward, trying to hold her, but his arms passed through her, and he cursed, furiously, as Rey sobbed. “But that - that means - oh my God, I really - I really am dead.”

“Rey-”

“I’m dead.” She sobbed again. “I’ll never - oh my _ god _.” The lights surged and Poe heard one of them pop, but he didn’t take his eyes off of her. “I’ve been dead f-for almost ten years.”

“I think so,” Poe whispered, his chest aching like an open wound.

“And … and I’ll never finish grad school.” Rey sobbed. “I’ll never get married, and I’ll never have kids.”

“Rey, I’m so sorry,” Poe murmured, shaking his head, and Rey let out a horrible, grief-stricken wail, and all the lights at once went out.

There was still enough daylight outside that he could see, and Rey was now emitting an eerie, ghostly glow. 

“It’s not fair,” she muttered, clapping her hands over her ears. Objects around the kitchen began to levitate, and Beetlejuice began to bark furiously, watching as chairs and even the cabinet lifted. “It’s not fair, It’s not fair, it’s not fair-” an apple from the counter soared past Poe, glancing off his arm - “It’s not fair!”

“It’s not,” he agreed, walking towards her even as things began to float around her in a circle. He swallowed, fighting back terror because no matter what he was feeling, Rey had to be twice as terrified. “Hey, Sunshine-”

“It’s not fair!” She screamed, and all the objects around them - a teapot and mugs, dishes and a mop - spun faster, and Poe had to grit his teeth and push through the maelstrom. “It’s not fair-”

“I know it isn’t fair,” Poe said softly, reaching his hand out to her. His hand went her elbow, and by some miracle, he touched her, and all the objects froze. “Hey. I know, Sunshine.” She sobbed again, some of the eerie glow around her dimming, and Poe pulled her in for a hug successfully this time. “I know.” He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed the side of her head, tears slipping out of his own eyes. “I know.”

She let out one last, ragged sob, and the objects in the kitchen floated to the ground. Thankfully nothing shattered, and Beetlejuice began a furious sniff-investigation of many of the items.

“It isn’t fair,” Rey cried into his shoulder, and Poe held her tightly before pulling back and pushing hair out of her face delicately. He wiped a tear from her freckled cheek, shocked at how solid she felt now.

“I know,” he said, stroking his thumb over her cheekbone, catching another tear. It glistened on his thumb like a ghost before vanishing from sight. “But I’m here now. You won’t be alone in this. We’ll figure it out.”

“Promise?” Rey whispered, her hazel eyes searching his face almost desperately.

“I promise,” Poe vowed, clasping her hand to his heart.

They stood together in the kitchen for a long time, Rey still grieving, and Poe so very afraid that if he let her go, he might not ever be allowed to hold her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> meeeeeep


End file.
